There has never been a worse time for the government to push
policies that would raise gasoline prices, especially since they've
risen almost 45% over the past year. But this is exactly what
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is doing with reformulated
gasoline (RFG).

RFG was implemented as part of the Clean Air Act Amendments
of 1990. It is blended to burn more completely and evaporate
less than conventional gasoline, thus creating less air pollution.
But, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), two
of the five factors now contributing to high gas prices directly
relate to EPA-mandated RFG.

Some say higher prices at the pump are a small sacrifice to
help the environment. But RFG provides no environmental benefits
and is a health hazard. Poor and minority communities are the
hardest hit because residents are digging deeper into their wallets
than other citizens to pay for gasoline they need for work and
other necessary tasks.

In 1994, President Clinton issued an "environmental justice"
executive order charging the government with stopping private
businesses from taking advantage of the poor and minorities.
There is, however, no check on the government's ability to pass
rules and regulations with unfair negative effects on these same
communities. In this particular case, if the EPA truly cared
about environmental justice, it would remove the unnecessary budgetary
and environmental burdens that RFG inflicts on poor and minority
Americans.

RFG contains oxygenates meant to increase the combustion efficiency
of gasoline and reduce carbon monoxide (CO) emissions. A 1999
report conducted on RFG by the National Academy of Sciences concluded,
however, that the "commonly available ethanol and MTBE blends
do little to reduce smog." The study credited air quality
improvements to things like the new emissions control equipment
in today's cars, not RFG.

Concerning health risks, scientists have linked the RFG additive
MTBE to cancer, reproductive and developmental ailments, asthma,
problems of the central nervous system and liver, damage to the
tissues of the heart and more. While air pollution is blamed
for increased asthma cases in the inner city, the EPA remains
silent on the link between MTBE and this debilitating respiratory
condition - creating a double-standard in the EPA's environmental
justice agenda. Furthermore, the EPA identifies MTBE as a Group
C carcinogen.

MTBE is water soluble and doesn't break down easily - travelling
faster and further under ground than any other gasoline component.
A study by the United States Geological Survey and the Oregon
Graduate Institute found that as many as 9,000 community water
wells in 31 states may already be affected by MTBE contamination
from leaking underground storage tanks. In the inner city, MTBE
spillage at gas stations could poison the ground in nearby neighborhoods.

Ethanol is no better. According to the Northeast States for
Coordinated Air Use Management, ethanol increases emissions of
acetaldehyde - a probable human carcinogen - by about 70%. In
addition, the complex nature of ethanol makes trucking the only
real means to transport it - creating increased traffic and exhaust.
It would also require the construction of new storage tanks and
production facilities.

The Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration
estimates increased costs will force consumers to pay $5 billion
more for gas in 2005 than they do today.

There are other, more general problems with the EPA's RFG program.
The CRS estimates that the environmental regulations imposed
by RFG drove the price of gasoline up 25 cents a gallon in the
Midwest this past summer. Also, a court decision in March found
the Unocal Corporation owns a patent on the most efficient method
of making RFG. This forces refiners to either use a less efficient
method or pay royalties to Unocal. Either way, consumers will
suffer.

As gas prices rise, consumers in poor and minority communities
will be the hardest hit. People in these areas earn less per
household than the national average, and must pay a substantially
larger portion of their budgets to operate their cars and trucks.
For small businessmen or people with long commutes or family
obligations, increased gas prices could mean difficult and life-altering
decisions.

The EPA is beyond its boundaries with its RFG mandates. Even
if RFG worked, the EPA should only set the environmental goals
for gasoline to meet, not the specific methods and tools refiners
must use to meet them. By allowing more freedom, refiners are
more likely to seek out the most efficient means at the lowest
prices.

Increased costs, health risks and economic devastation are
not the products of a logical government policy. Nor is it fair
when the policy falls hardest on the shoulders of poor and minority
citizens who can least afford it and live in areas most likely
to feel the negative environmental effects of implementing the
EPA's RFG policies. The government clearly needs to rethink its
environmental justice policy.

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(Syd Gernstein is a research associate for the African-American
leadership network Project 21. He can be reached at [email protected].)

Note: New Visions Commentaries reflect the views
of their author, and not necessarily those of Project 21.